'It's escalating every minute': Iranian woman living in N.L. watches conflict with worry

An Iranian woman living in Newfoundland and Labrador says she's watching attacks between Israel and Iran with worry for her family back home.

"I've been refreshing Twitter and the news since, like last night," Aysan, who has been in the province for five years, said Friday evening. CBC News is only referring to her by her first name to protect her family still in Iran. 

"[I'm] obviously very worried, because it is escalating every minute.

Israel attacked Iran early Friday morning with a barrage of airstrikes that killed top military officials, nuclear scientists and hit about a hundred targets, including nuclear and missile sites, in what appears to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since the 1980s.

Aysan told CBC News it's been troubling to watch the attacks from afar, saying she feels survivor's guilt. She and her family have taken comfort in the fact that residential areas haven't yet been targeted.

"I'm worried about them, and I'm worried about escalation," she said.

Iran's state news agency reported Friday afternoon that Iran had fired hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel as part of a retaliation effort.

Leaders in Canada and around the world have condemned Israel's attack, calling for immediate de-escalation from both sides.

Military officials killed include high ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Canada named an terrorist organization in June 2024.

Despite the danger Iranians are under, Aysan said she and others in Newfoundland's Iranian community have found a form of comfort in knowing those who have harmed Iranians are gone.

"Those were the ones that, like, ordered killing a lot of people during the protest," she said, citing 2020 protests when the Guard shot down a Ukrainian airliner. It killed 176 people, including 55 Canadians.

"Most people feel that, like, happiness underneath. But, of course, we are worried about our families."

Lengths Israel will go appear 'limitless', history professor says

Justin Fantauzzo, a history professor studying the modern Middle East at Memorial University, told CBC News Friday the conflict between the two countries is well documented. There are a few key issues that have incited this chapter of conflict.

They centre around the development of Iran's nuclear weapons program, which Fantauzzo said Israel views as an existential crisis.

"I think we've learned once again that the limits to which Israel will go to protect what it views as its national security seem to be limitless," he told CBC Radio's On The Go.

"I don't think most people thought Israel was both maybe bold and reckless enough to escalate the conflict between Iran and Israel, to escalate this negotiation period about Iranian nuclear infrastructure and its enrichment of uranium, to this level."

Issues centre around the development of Iran's nuclear weapons program, Fantauzzo said, which Israel views as an existential crisis.

Negotiations between Iran and the United States to find a middle ground have failed, while the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran on Thursday of breaching non-proliferation obligations by appearing to enrich uranium past the point of weapons-grade.

"Even going back to 2023, some IAEA inspectors had found particles, radiation particles, in certain nuclear facilities in Iran that were above 80 per cent, about 83 per cent enriched uranium," Fantauzzo said. "Hiroshima, in 1945, that bomb was 80 per cent enriched uranium. And some IAEA inspectors have found evidence of enriched uranium that exceeds that."

Fantauzzo said questions also remain over Israel's true objective behind the missile attacks — be it destroying nuclear missile sets or creating volatility to prompt a regime change — and the role the United States would play in continued efforts to resume negotiations.

He said there are two main items he'll be watching for as the conflict continues.

"The first is, as reports come out about what Israel has struck, how much damage did they actually do to Iran's nuclear infrastructure.… Over the last couple of hours, Israel has struck more nuclear facilities and more sites," Fantuazzo said.

"[Also], what is the reaction from not only the Islamic regime in Teheran, the government, but the Iranian people as well. Is it another ballistic missile strike, is it intense political opposition, is it regime change from within? I mean, what Iran does will obviously impact Israel's next step as well."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.